Totalitarianism vs. Authoritarianism

Some of my friends know that I spent a long time studying Russia and the Soviet Union from an academic viewpoint. They also know that I've lived there during the death throes of communism, during the transition to Russian democracy and during the actual height of Russian anarchic democracy.

That as the background, I've often been asked what I think of Vladimir Putin and the direction he's going. I know that Medvedev is the current President of Russia, but, I don't give his position and role much credence in either power or authority within Russia. More on that later because I think that there are situations where he can manipulate the appointment system within the bureaucracy in order to increase his leveraged power.

So, what do I think?

First, let me distinguish my understanding of totalitarianism and authoritarianism and highlight why I think they're different.

Authoritarianism is a system of government where one person or an oligarchy control the levers of power. And, they expect the people to obey those levers of power. Quite often there is a tacit bargain that as long as the people or the corporations don't interfere with the levers of political power and appear to support the political leadership, they won't interfere with the economic gain or personal lives of society.

Totalitarianism takes the concept of authoritarianism one step further where the political leaders don't accept that tacit bargain. They expect society to emotionally and economically bow to the will of the political system, organizing the economic system to track their political requirements and explicitly interfering in the personal lives of individuals to ensure that they not only appear to be supporting the political leadership, but, actually support the political leadership. At some level, to accomplish this in a large society, requires oppression and brainwashing.

This is an important difference to me because I believe that while Russia is reverting to authoritarianism with the Putin regime, I don't believe that there is a danger of descending into totalitarianism.

The ongoing Putin regime appears accept the tacit social contract that civil society toe the line and support them in appearance, not rock the boat, and they, in turn, can have economic and personal freedom (personal freedom that doesn't significantly impinge upon the political structure.)

Witness the arrest of Mikhail Khodorovski who ran Yukos. I'm not arguing that the charges were trumped up, he may very well have been breaking the law. But, he was not breaking it any more than anyone else in similar positions within the commercial sector. Once he started speaking out against the government, then his activities were used as a means of justifying removing a potential political opponent.

If you're interested in taking a look at other, like situations, check out The US Report on Human Rights Abuses.

With this as background, is Russia headed down an authoritarian path or down a soviet-style path?